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Roast pork shoulder

Name: Roast pork shoulder
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 6 h 10 min
Total time: 6 h 40 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Ingredients: 8 lb (3600 g) bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder, picnic cut; 1 head garlic, about 12 cloves, peeled; 2½ tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 4 tsp Morton kosher salt; 2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 2 tbsp dried oregano; ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil; 2 tbsp (30 ml) white vinegar; 1 packet sazón (optional)

Pork shoulder rubbed with garlic, oregano and vinegar, roasted low until it falls apart, then blasted until the skin turns to crackling.

Pernil

TiempoTime6 hr 40 min

TrabajoHands-on30 min

NivelLevelMedium

PorcionesServes12

Pernil is the centerpiece of Nochebuena and any party worth going to. The meat should pull apart with a fork, and the skin on top, the cuerito, should shatter.

Start two days ahead if you can. The marinade does most of the work while you sleep.

De dónde viene:Where it comes from: Pigs came with the Spanish. Garlic, oregano and vinegar marinades are Spanish too, adapted on the island for slow roasting.

IngredientesIngredients

8 lb (3600 g) bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder, picnic cut
1 head garlic, about 12 cloves, peeled
2½ tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 4 tsp Morton kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 tbsp dried oregano
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
2 tbsp (30 ml) white vinegar
1 packet sazón optional

UtensiliosTools

Pilón (mortar and pestle) or food processor
Roasting pan
Instant-read thermometer

PasosSteps

Pound the garlic, salt, pepper and oregano into a paste in a pilón (mortar). Stir in the olive oil, vinegar and sazón, if using.
Pat the pork dry. Loosen the skin from the meat with a small knife, leaving it attached on one side like a flap. Cut deep slits all over the meat, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep.
Rub the paste into the slits and all over the meat under the skin. Lay the skin back down and rub just a little salt on top of it, not marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or up to 2 days.
Take the pork out of the fridge an hour before roasting. Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Set the pork skin-side up in a roasting pan and cover tightly with foil.
Roast until the meat reaches about 190°F (88°C) in the thickest part and pulls apart easily, about 5½ to 6 hours for 8 pounds.
Remove the foil, pour off most of the fat, and raise the oven to 425°F (220°C). Roast until the skin puffs and crackles all over, 20 to 40 minutes. Watch it closely.
Let it rest 20 minutes. Break the cuerito into pieces, then pull or chop the meat and toss it with the pan juices.

Bueno saberGood to know

If the skin won't crisp: Pat it dry and give it more time at high heat. A dry surface is the whole trick.
Smaller roast: Plan on about 40 minutes per pound at 325°F, and go by the thermometer.
Leftovers: Tripleta and Cuban-style sandwiches, pernil fried rice, or pastelón.

Pregúntale a Mami (o a tu abuela)Ask Mami (or your abuela)

Who got the first piece of cuerito in your family?
Did anyone in your family roast a whole lechón?